Becca's Higher Education Journey

Tuesday, 19 February 2019

Drawing 19/2

Today was about using a photo reference and drawing what we observe. Yet again my finicky drawing style was making me slower than I would have liked to be. I like the 2nd picture better because I began shading earlier on, instead of trying to finish all the linework first. This is something that I know I need to work on and I really hope i can get to a point where I am happy with my drawings but not spend half the day on them lol.

Screen Arts 19/2

Film and Animation history pre-1900

Persistence of vision "The persistence of vision with regard to moving objects"

Theory stated the retina retains an image briefly after it disappears.

Layering in cave drawings are theorised to be attempting to show movement. A spinning bowl from Iran 5200 years ago shows a run cycle of a deer type creature.

Thaumatrope in 1825, John Ayrton Paris created a disc with one image on each side, when you spin the disc you get a full image due to the image retention.
Phenakisticope and Zoetrope both have slits with a series of images behind that show movement when spun.
Praxiniscope(1877) uses mirrors mounted in a spinning cylinder to improve clarity, this later got developed into a projector called Theatre Optique.
Eadward Muybridge in 1872 created a photographic sequence of a horse galloping to prove the theory of unsupported transit - where the horse was completely off the ground at some point in its run cycle.
Etienne-Jules Marley in 1882 used his invention, a chronophotographic gun that took 12 photos per second onto a photographic plate.
Kineoscope conceived in 1888 by Thomas Edison, was a box instead of a projector that produced 46fps.

Lumiere brothers invented the cinematographe in 1895, credited as the first commercial breakthrough. They combined projection and photographic into a single unit using 35mm film and 16fps.

Thomas Edison deliberately staged the body as the centre of attention - Gave the audience what they sex and violence for entertainment on the kineoscope. He also created the first film advertisment in 1897 for scotch whiskey.

Louis Aime Augustin Le Prince successfully created a single lens camera in 1887. 1889 he perfected his device using a gear system to create a smooth film movement. In 1890 he boarded a train and disappeared under mysterious circumstances.

Arthur Melbourne-Cooper, 1899 created what is considered to be the first true animation advertising matches and trying to raise funds for the British war fund, using frame by frame, although it is rather stop motion like.

Film first came to NZ due to visiting entertainers who saw the potential in Thomas Edisons medium. The first person to exhibit film in NZ was Henry Whitehouse in 1895. In 1898 he imported a camera and began creating films of NZ but found that NZers were to critical, comparing his films to the imported film standards. Henry filmed the training of the 2nd contingent of NZ troops during the Boer war which helped change public perception of the film industry in NZ.

Film and Animation History 1900-1905

Segundo De Chomon - director, cameraman, special effects director and an early pioneer of film techniques.
Alice Guy was one of the inventors of narrative film. Directed The Cabbage Patch Fairy in 1896 - one of the fist films to have a plot using humour and magic.
Edwin S Porter directed the life of an american fireman in 1903 - used closeups and interjected staged footage with clips of real footage. The great train robbery made use of various different camera angles, and had actors to the side of frame instead of centre.
Winsor Mccay 1911 broke into animated films with Little Nemo.
Cecil M Hepworth was the forerunner of Rin Tin Tin and Lassie films that star dogs.

Top Ten list from last week genres

The Lion King - animated musical/drama
Shawshank Redemption - drama
Howls Moving Castle - animated drama/romance/action
Thor - action/comedy
300 - action
The Blacklist - action/drama
Pirates of the Caribbean - action/comedy
Silence of the Lambs - thriller/mystery
Saw - horror
Tangled - animated comedy/adventure

Definitely love my drama and comedy movies/tv series. I dont watch random shows/movies as such anymore, I tend to binge watch particular series that I enjoy over and over. Mostly Supernatural, Lucifer and Bones, yet again more drama lol.

Screen Arts 18/2

This week we had to watch one film off the American Film Institute top 100 Films in the last 100 years list. I chose Sixth Sense because despite everything I had seen or read, Ive never actually watched the film itself. The story itself is quite intriguing in that for most of the film, it seems quite normal(other than the kid seeing ghosts part) until you get to the massive plot twist at the end. I honestly didnt know whether I would enjoy the film before I watched it, but I didnt mind it in the end. There was a lot of plot holes involving Bruce Willis' character and his wifes interactions, and no real sense of time. To me, if my significant other was not talking to me I would be doing everything to fix the situation whereas his character almost seemed like it had an "oh well" attitude for a lot of the movie. If I had written it, I would have had them have a huge fight and her leave at the start to offer an alternative as to why she wasnt talking to him. There was definitely a lot of jumping around in time, and nothing really to tie it together other than the characters appearing in each scene. The ending was a bit lackluster as well, or maybe it was just a lil too cheesy for my liking.

Monday, 18 February 2019

Research 18/2

My journey to SIT:

About a year and a half ago, I made a joke about running away to Invercargill to escape my partners mum. The next morning he told me about some jobs that he could apply for, so after my initial surprise I looked at study options. Luckily for us, we were accepted into the first house we applied to rent, and my partner was hired by the first job he applied for. We moved here from Dunedin one week before the start of semester. Last year I completed the lvl 3 NZCDMD and the lvl 4 NZCC, which made me realise I enjoy animation so here I am now working on a BSA in animation and game design.
I love working on pencil drawings of animals and nature, although I am rather picky with my pieces and can end up spending far too much time working on them. I also enjoy oil paintings for the same reason, I have lots of time to fiddle and change things lol.
I dont really have any direct artist influences at this stage, I sort of just create things the way I see them although I am trying to find some that will match the art style i want to have. Simon Tofield from Simon's cat has a definite cartoon style that I think would be fairly easy to create animations with, but I do struggle with simplifying my characters!

I hate eating anything with a slimy texture so pineapple, tomatoes, tinned fruit etc. I am a fussy eater but Ive managed to survive this long so i cant be THAT bad really...

Simons Cat images, Sourced from: https://is4-ssl.mzstatic.com/image/thumb/Purple118/v4/40/dd/95/40dd95d2-9915-95f4-706d-c0a1fb77ca4c/pr_source.png/300x0w.png

Thursday, 14 February 2019

Principles 14/2

Character Design

How would my favourite character react to being trapped in an elevator?

Dean Winchester would begin by exclaiming Sonofabitch! when he realises he is trapped. This would progress into pushing random buttons in the hopes that one of them would fix the problem/call the helpline. After some time, he would start bashing the door in frustration, and yelling insults/curses at the top of his lungs. When this fails, he would pull out a gun and proceed to shoot the doors. Eventually, despair would set in and he will slump to the ground in defeat maybe commenting about how hungry he is. When the elevator is finally fixed, he will run out and immediately go to a bar to drink a shot of whiskey.

How would my own character react to the same situation?
She would sigh, and sit down to wait. Work on some muscle training.

Character development, how a character is internally is almost more important than the external features. Use real life examples for emotions, behaviors and reactions. The more you know about your character, the more real it will feel.

3 favourite films main characters
1- Simba
2- Dean Winchester
3- Rapunzel

external features
1- spiky fur, almost a mohawk. confident expression, lion cub
2- Adult male, jackets and jeans, boots. rugged styling, "male model"
3- Young female, ridiculously long blonde hair, pink dress with no shoes, big innocent blue eyes

internal features
1-showoff, overly confident, curious. Would panic in an elevator
2-cocky, ladies man, afraid of losing his only family, loyal to death, would react as posted above
3- naive, innocent, optimistic view of the world. Would try and find a solution to being trapped after a brief moment of panic.

3 internal and external features of someone i know
external
-broad, tattoos, big beard
internal
-big softie, loving, easy going

3 internal and external features of my character
external
- big black wings, blue to black ombre hair, silver irises
internal
-stubborn, dedicated, serious.

Wants vs Needs

Conflict between the two creates a more well rounded character.

Simba
want-independence
need-a father figure

Dean
want-his family back together
need-his brother alive and well hunting with him

Rapunzel
want-freedom to explore the world
need-to stand up for herself

my own wants and needs
want-to get a good paying job that i enjoy
need-to spend more time studying/drawing

my character
What does she want most-success as a warrior
who does she want to become-the ultimate lieutenant
What might she need to do to succeed-sacrifice social life, and normal rhythms

Character Obstacles

One obstacle the main character faces
1- returning home to pride rock
2- fear of losing his brother
3- finding her way to see the lights up close

obstacle I have faced
-not being able to pay bills stopping me from getting a better education

my characters obstacles
-fitting into an elevator of a building with no roof access
-being noticed in a large group of warriors
-falling in love
-physical limitations due to gender and age

Character arc is the reaction and changes a character makes to overcome obstacles

Main characters arcs

1-freedom to do what he wants, freedom isnt everything its cracked up to be
2-him and his brother to save to world, and defeat the supernatural bad guys, he needs a family environment with everyone together
3-she wants to go and see the lights up close and explore the world. she needs to be loved instead of used.

how have i changed as a result of overcoming an obstacle
due to my old job forcing me to interact with people, I now feel a lot more comfortable engaging in conversations with people i dont know.

how might my character change due to overcoming the previous obstacles
-become more open, more emotional, more human. become more proud of herself for getting closer to her goals, increasing confidence.

Stakes - internal, external, philosophical/

external - whats going on in the world
internal - mental/emotional consequences of a choice
philosophical - "what if" stakes, good vs evil, value of a choice.

What was an important choice they had to make
1- to stay with timon and pumbaa, or return to pride rock
2- to say yes to archangel michael, or to find another way to defeat lucifer
3-to leave with Flynn, or to stay in her old life

First time drawing a head out of my own imagination, I am definitely getting a wooden mannequin to help with human body proportions. I have very little experience with drawing humans so i will need to practice.

Wednesday, 13 February 2019

Storyboard 13/2

Storytelling, steps from Pixar to help create a good story concept.

After talking with Ruby, I think I will use my angel character for Principles of Animation, and Game design next semester. For storyboard and comic book/drawing I will use the new kitty character that i am creating. That way I can keep working with the story that popped into my head today, and still work on a humanoid character to fufill the principles requirements.